Mumbai, Jan 9 (IANS) A benchmark index for Indian equities markets Wednesday closed trade 76 points down as the earning season began with metal, capital goods and consumer durables stocks falling.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 19,770.21 points, closed at 19,666.59 points, down 75.93 points or 0.38 percent from its previous close at 19,742.52 points.
The BSE Sensex touched an intra-day high of 19,824.06 points and a low of 19,627.16 points.
The BSE midcap index was down 34.88 points, while the smallcap index was lower by 18.82 points.
The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too closed in red — down 30.20 points or 0.50 percent at 5,971.50 points.
In the Sensex sectoral indices, metal was down 133.16 points, followed by capital goods index, which was lower by 110.11 points, and consumer durables index, which fell by 93.29 points.
However, automobile index gained 85.95 points, while the oil and gas index was up 44.63 points and public sector undertaking (PSU) index moved 13.02 points higher.
The major Sensex gainers were Tata Motors, up 3.98 percent at Rs.326.65; Gail India, up 1.62 percent at Rs.370.35; State Bank of India (SBI), up 1.13 percent at Rs.2,521.65; Coal India, up 1.01 percent at Rs.363.80; and Sun Pharma, up 0.94 percent at Rs.760.05.
Nineteen of the 30 Sensex scrips closed in red.
Among the main losers were BHEL, down 2.69 percent at Rs.237.00; Tata Steel, down 2.54 percent at Rs.422.70; Bajaj Auto, down 1.96 percent at Rs.2,155.60; ITC, down 1.93 percent at Rs.279.80; and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), down 1.74 percent at Rs.1,275.75.
The third quarter (October-December) earnings season kicked off with IndusInd bank declaring results for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2012-13. Driven by robust growth in interest income, the Hinduja owned bank reported 30 percent year-on-year rise in its net profit at Rs.267 crore
Among other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei index was up 0.67 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended 0.46 percent higher. The Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.03 percent lower.
In contrast, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.41 percent, while the German DAX was trading 0.02 percent higher. However, the
other European market, French CAC 40 was down 0.02 percent.
